


hey jealousy, listen to my heart

by adamganseys



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, jealous!Ronan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 12:25:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6284500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adamganseys/pseuds/adamganseys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boy was handsome in a way that reminded Adam of every male model that had ever caught his eye in a magazine, with his wavy dark brown hair and sharp jawline and high cheekbones and thick lips and – and Adam couldn’t stop staring. He should, though. He should really stop staring. Especially because the boy was staring back as he walked towards Adam.</p><p>*</p><p>(Or, my response to the prompt "Wait a minute. Are you jealous?", in which Adam Parrish is very bisexual and the new kid has a crush on him)</p>
            </blockquote>





	hey jealousy, listen to my heart

**Author's Note:**

> I also posted this on tumblr (http://lorelaiglmore.tumblr.com/post/141262105910/wait-a-minute-are-you-jealous-for-pynch). Title is from Hey Jealousy by Gin Blossoms.

Adam noticed the new kid as soon as he walked into Latin class. He kind of felt like he had when he had first noticed Colin Greenmantle - before he knew who he was, of course. He was impressed, awed, intrigued, despite himself. 

The boy was handsome in a way that reminded Adam of every male model that had ever caught his eye in a magazine, with his wavy dark brown hair and sharp jawline and high cheekbones and thick lips and -- and Adam couldn’t stop staring. He should, though. He should really stop staring. Especially because the boy was staring back as he walked towards Adam. 

Adam looked down at his Latin notes as the boy took the seat behind him - the seat, which, normally, was Ronan’s. It was nearly time for class to start, but Ronan hadn’t arrived yet, which was odd, since Ronan usually arrived almost as early as Adam. Not because Ronan Lynch was a model student who was always punctual, but, rather, because he liked to be there with Adam. Gansey, sitting on his right, caught Adam’s eye, his eyes wide, saying,  _Ronan’s going to kill him_. 

As if on cue, Ronan Lynch walked in, looking savage and arrogant and sharp, and when his eye caught on the boy in his seat, his face darkened. He stalked towards the desk, every muscle in his body poised for a fight. Gansey exchanged a look with Adam, like,  _Here we go_. 

“Lynch-,” Gansey started, trying to put a stop to the situation before it even started, but Ronan ignored him, looming over the new boy’s desk. 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Ronan’s voice was low and dangerous.

The boy stared at Ronan, raising an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

Most people would’ve been intimidated by Ronan - especially if they were new - but the boy wasn’t. He matched Ronan’s stare head on. “I’m sitting. At a desk. That’s generally what people do in class, I hear.” His tone was a match for Ronan’s, maybe even surpassing him in its danger, with his bored and wry voice, challenging and unafraid. Adam tried not to smirk, but he couldn’t help it. Ronan saw the smirk and glared at him before turning back to the other boy.

“Listen, shithead--”

“The name’s Alex.”

“--that’s my fucking seat.”

“I wasn’t aware that we had assigned seats. Besides, I needed to sit next to Adam Parrish.”

Adam startled at that, frowning and turning to the boy -  _Alex,_ apparently. “Excuse me?”

Alex smiled at him, and something in his gaze made Adam’s stomach do funny things. “Hi. The principle told me that you could show me around, since I’m new and you’re the top student at the school. He said to look for the attractive boy with the nice cheekbones and freckles, so it was pretty easy to find you.” 

Adam flushed bright red, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Ronan shooting the boy a death glare, his nostrils almost flaring in his anger. Adam very much doubted that that’s what the principle had said. 

As if reading his mind, the boy continued. “I’m kidding, he just showed me your picture from the yearbook. He didn’t mention it to you?”

Adam thought, and then it hit him. “Oh.  _Oh_. You’re Alexander Sheldon.” The headmaster had briefly mentioned it to him two weeks ago, but it had completely slipped Adam’s mind. 

“Yup. But call me Alex. It’s nice to meet you.” Alex held out his hand, and Adam took it hesitantly. The handshake lasted a little longer than necessary, but Adam didn’t mind. 

Meanwhile, Ronan looked like he was about to commit homicide. 

“Lynch,” Adam said. “There are other seats in the classroom, you know.” 

Adam ignored the disbelieving look Ronan gave him. “Well, _fuck_ you,” Ronan snarled.

The teacher walked in, then. “Mr. Carruthers, Mr. Lynch, would you please take a seat?”

Ronan had a biting remark on his tongue, but Gansey said, “Ronan. There’s a seat in the corner there. Just sit, will you?”

Ronan threw one last dirty glance at Alex, and stalked towards a desk three away from Adam’s left.

Throughout the class, Adam felt two sets of eyes on him, one he had gotten used to and one that was new. He felt flustered by the attention of the latter, but more intrigued than he wanted to be.

When class ended, Alex walked out with him. “So, you have a free period now, right?”

Adam nodded. “Yeah. I can – uh, show you around, tell you about the classes, or, whatever you need.”

“Yeah, man, that’d be really great. I literally moved to Henrietta a week ago, so I’m kind of lost.”

Adam could feel Gansey and Ronan watching them from a few feet behind, but he tried to ignore that. “Where’d you move here from?”

“Well—“

“Parrish!” Ronan’s voice interrupted them.

Adam sighed, annoyed. “I’ll just be a minute.”  He walked over to where Gansey and Ronan were standing. “What?”

Ronan raised his eyebrows. “You coming with me to—“

“Can’t,” Adam said. Ronan had a free period too and usually they spent it together. “I need to show Alex around.”

Ronan’s face darkened. He sneered. “Right. Have fun with your new admirer.”

Adam flushed. “Fuck off, Lynch. It’s not—“ He stopped abruptly. “I’ll see you guys later.” Then he turned and walked over to Alex.

By lunchtime, Adam knew quite a bit about Alex. He had moved here from Connecticut. He was a musician. He was really funny and nice and easy to get along with, but also had a fierceness and edge to him that Adam liked. It was weird, enjoying talking to someone who wasn’t Gansey or Ronan or Blue or Noah. He hadn’t had any friends besides them in a long time, and though they had only just met, Adam felt weirdly comfortable around him. It was strange to Adam, who had such a hard time warming up to people, to liking them. Not that Adam opened up to Alex about himself, or planned to. Still, it was nice.

Adam didn’t miss the long glances Alex threw his way, either.

“You can sit with me and my friends, if you want,” Adam said as they entered the cafeteria.

“Are you sure? Because if that jerk with the shaved head is one of your friends, he might flip the table over if I attempt to join you guys.”

Adam grinned. “His name’s Ronan. Ignore him. That’s what I do.”

When Adam brought Alex to the table where Gansey and Ronan were already seated, Ronan’s face immediately became a storm cloud, but he didn’t say anything. When they sat down, Adam stiffened as Alex sat closer to him than strictly necessary, their shoulders touching. Ronan’s face darkened further. Gansey cleared his throat and introduced himself.

Alex then turned to Ronan. “You’re Ronnie, right? Adam mentioned your name.” Adam stifled a laugh at the way Ronan’s face literally turned blood red in fury, but Gansey interrupted before Ronan could speak.

“It’s Ronan, actually. And you’ll have to excuse him. He’s – well, he’s –“

“He’s a shitbag,” Adam supplied.

Ronan glared at Adam, but there was something else in his face too, something Adam couldn’t point out. “Whatever,” Ronan muttered. “I’ll see you assholes later.” Then he got up and walked away angrily.

Adam looked after him, frowning.

*

Ronan came over to St. Agnes that night, after Adam got off work. He was in a terrible mood, and Adam lost patience very quickly.

They were sitting on the bed, pretending to study, and for the third time in the twenty minutes he had been here, Ronan made some offensive comment and called him “Poor Boy”.

Adam gritted his teeth. “Call me that again and I’ll fucking throw you out, Lynch.”

Ronan huffed. “Whatever.”

“No, not whatever. I’m serious. What the hell is your problem? Don’t bother coming over here if you’re just going to be a complete asshole.”

“I don’t have a problem,” Ronan muttered, looking down at his hands.

Adam rolled his eyes. “Right.”

There was complete silence for a few more minutes.

“Why couldn’t you come to the Barns today after school?”

“What?”

“The Barns. We were supposed to work on the cows. Gansey said you called and told him to tell me you couldn’t make it. What happened? You didn’t have work until later.”

“Oh. Um.” Adam’s face turned red, despite himself, recalling the afternoon. “Well. I was, actually, uh, showing Alex around Henrietta.”

Ronan stilled beside him. “You—what?”

“Well, he’s new and he asked, so I… and then we studied for a bit since he’s so behind in school.”

Adam saw Ronan’s fists clench at this sides. “Glad to know that hanging out with that asshole was more important than helping me, Parrish.”

Adam bristled. “Oh, come on. It was one afternoon. And he’s not an asshole. I felt bad saying no.”

“Right. As if you were itching to refuse him. You’ve been hanging on his every word since he walked into Latin.”

Adam flushed. “That’s not true. He’s just – he’s nice, and. You know what, whatever. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“Of course not, Parrish. You don’t owe me anything. Why don’t you just ask your new _friend_ ” – Ronan said _friend_ like he meant something else – “to help you with your Latin instead since you like him so much.”  

“Oh, fuck off, Lynch.” Then, something clicked. Adam almost smiled. “Wait a minute. Are you _jealous_?”

Ronan turned beet red and glared at the wall. “The fuck? Why the fuck would I be jealous, Parrish? The fuck do I care who you’re friends with?”

Adam snorted. “Uh huh.”

“I just think it’s shitty that you’re so far up this guy’s ass that you skipped the Barns, you don’t even fucking know him.”

“Jesus, Ronan. I’ll go with you to the Barns tomorrow if you want me to so badly.”

“Whatever.”

Adam sighed, and they got back to staring at their books. Adam chewed on his lip, debating whether to bring _that thing_ up with Ronan. Judging by how he’s been about Alex, he wouldn’t react well. But it had been weighing on Adam all day. It didn’t matter in the long run, really, after what he’d already decided, what he’d _realized_ , but telling Ronan would maybe make that other conversation easier to bring up. Still, Adam’s heart was pounding. He felt the heat from Ronan’s shoulder next to him, not touching his, but almost.

“I want to tell you something,” Adam said carefully, “But I… I don’t know how you’ll react to it.”

Ronan turned to him, his gaze softer than before. “What’s up?”

“Um. Well. Alex asked me out.”

Ronan’s fingers tightened on his textbook, clutching it so hard Adam thought he’d rip it apart. “He – he asked you out.”

“Yes.”

“On a date.”

“Yes.”

Ronan was quiet. Then, his voice strangled, “And what did you say?”

Adam swallowed, looked down at his hands. “I… I was kind of caught off guard so I just told him… that I had to think about it.”

“Think… about it?”

“Yes. And I did. But I’ve already decided I’m going to say no.”

Ronan looked at him, and part of him seems to relax, but his eyebrows were furrowed in confusion and anger. “But – why would you consider – I thought –“ He faltered, unsure of how to ask the question. Adam knew what he was trying to ask, though.

“You mean, because he’s a guy? Um. Well. I… I think I like guys and girls?” His Henrietta accent slipped out in his nervousness, this being the first time he had voiced his bisexuality out loud.

Ronan let out a ragged breath. “Oh.”

Adam cleared his throat. “Yeah. But I’m going to say no because I know that… I mean, he’s nice and he’s cute, but it would be pointless.”

“Pointless?”

“Yeah.” Adam steeled himself. “Pointless to go out with him when I like someone else.” Adam finally turned to look at Ronan, who had stilled beside him and was looking at him with wide eyes, hope and uncertainty warring with each other inside them.

“Blue?” Ronan’s voice was strained.

“No,” Adam said quietly, just above a whisper.

Ronan opened his mouth and closed it again, frozen, speechless. Then he found his voice again. “Gansey?”

“Definitely not.”

“Tad Carruthers?”

“You got me,” Adam deadpanned. “There’s just something about his obnoxiousness that makes me all hot and bothered.”

Ronan huffed out a laugh. “Well, there’s no accounting for taste.”

Adam raised his eyebrows pointedly. “Clearly.”

Then it was silence again. Ronan looked down at his hands, looked at Adam, looked down at his hands, then at Adam again. He swallowed nervously, and, amusingly, started to blush from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. Adam didn’t think that Ronan Lynch was capable of blushing.

Adam took a deep breath and slowly placed his hand on the place where Ronan’s neck and shoulder met, and Ronan’s eyes widened further. He slid his hand up a little and ran his thumb back and forth on Ronan’s jaw, and he felt Ronan shiver.

“Parrish,” Ronan rasped, his voice ragged and uneven, but he didn’t seem to have anything to follow that up with. His eyes were still wide, disbelieving, staring at Adam like he wasn’t sure if he was awake or dreaming.

Adam leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Ronan’s. Their lips were only an inch apart, and Adam could feel Ronan’s harsh breathing on his lips. “Do you want me to stop?” Adam whispered.

In response, Ronan crashed his lips against Adam’s. It was the briefest of kisses, and Ronan pulled back immediately, but Adam didn’t let him got far. He brought his other hand up, cupped Ronan’s face between his hands, and kissed him again. Ronan made a low noise against his lips, and Adam kissed him harder.

It was awkward and messy and neither of them was very good at it, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was Ronan’s lips sliding against his, and Ronan’s hands hesitantly clutching his shoulders and moving up to tangle in his hair, and Ronan’s tiny gasps that lit sparks inside Adam.

When they finally pulled apart, their foreheads almost touching, they were both breathing hard. Adam looked into Ronan’s eyes, seeing the same look of awe and wonder that he was sure was mirrored in his own. Once their eyes met, Adam couldn’t help it; he smiled, slowly, until it turned into a blown out, open grin. Ronan smiled back, almost shyly, and he looked younger than Adam had ever seen him.

They untangled themselves from each other, and leaned back against the wall. Adam looked at Ronan innocently and said, “You know, now that I think about it, maybe my decision was premature. I might say yes to Alex after all.”

Ronan glared at Adam, but it soon turned into a smile. He bumped their shoulders together and huffed, “Asshole.”

Adam smiled smugly. “You _were_ jealous. Admit it.”

Ronan turned red again. “Fuck off.”

Adam felt his own face heat up too at his next words, and he looked down at his lap. “You had nothing to worry about, Lynch,” he muttered.

Ronan looked at him, and Adam expected to see smugness on his face, but there was a vulnerability and cautious happiness radiating from him instead. He swallowed, and said, his voice rough, “Yeah?”

Adam tentatively took Ronan’s hand in his and laced their fingers together. “Yeah.” Then, “He never stood a chance. You’re much hotter than him.”

Ronan looked startled for a moment, then smirked, looking more like himself. “Obviously I am.”

“But he’s much less of an asshole than you are.”

Ronan snorted. “You like that I’m an asshole, though.”

Not it was Adam’s turn to blush. He couldn’t really deny it. “Shut up.”

Ronan laughed, and for once, there was nothing sharp about it.

“I really shouldn’t have kissed you, though. I should’ve waited until I told Alex no.” He felt a little guilty about it.

“Fuck that. The guy’s a dick.”

Adam gave him a look. “No, you’re a dick. He was nice. And at least he had the balls to actually ask me out instead of pining after me for months, unlike some other people I know.”

Ronan flushed. “I wasn’t _pining._ ” Adam raised his eyebrows. “Okay, maybe I was pining a little. But we’re here now, aren’t we?”

Adam smiled. “Yeah, we are.”

Ronan smiled back, taking their entwined hands up to his lips and kissing Adam’s knuckles. “Fuck,” Ronan swore, his voice reverent and soft once again. “This is really happening.” Ronan kissed his hand again.

Adam moved their hands out of the way and leaned in. “Yeah, it is.” Their lips met, and when Ronan’s hand traced Adam’s cheekbone, when Ronan sighed into Adam’s mouth, when Ronan’s tongue hesitantly poked through his lips, Adam knew with a sudden and fierce clarity just how ridiculous and unnecessary Ronan’s jealousy was, because no one else had ever had a chance when Ronan Lynch existed.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on twitter @adamganseys or tumblr @lorelaiglmore. Feedback is appreciated :)


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